Dress



March 20, 1962 R. E. SEWARD DRESS Filed Feb. 29, 1960 INVENTOR. RUTH 1E SEWARD .Zu ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,925,527 Patented Mar. 20, 19fi2 3,025,527 DRESS Ruth E. Seward, Guthrie, Okla. (5709 NW. 58th St., Oklahoma City 12, Okla.) Filed Feb. 29, 1960, Ser. No. 11,783 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-70) This invention relates to a dress and is more specifical 1y directed to a one piece dress so constructed that the waistline and the skirt can be lowered or raised and the waist size of the dress can be readily varied as required. Even more specifically the invention relates to a one piece dress whereby any one or all of the foregoing may be accomplished without any necessity of recutting or reassembling of either the blouse or skirt.

Children as is well known grow very rapidly and this is particularly true for children within the ages of one to twelve years. As a consequence a dress selected for a girl within that age group must be one that is oversized or otherwise the child will quickly outgrow the garment. If an oversized dress is selected the girl will, of course, grow into it but until she does the dress will not fit properly. Furthermore when she does grow into it the dress is no longer new and in all probability the dress is no longer pretty because an improperly fitted dress does not wear evenly. Obviously a dress the size of which could be altered as the child grows would be very desirable.

A number of efforts have been made heretofore to provide a dress the size of which could be varied. In one proposed method the childs dress was provided with a double tailored sash thus permitting the belt to be set between the blouse and the skirt when the dress becomes too small for the child. In another proposed method the waistline seam was larger than usual consisting of skirt and blouse seams of approximate equal length. Various other methods have been proposed also for accomplishing this objective, however, none of them have been entirely satisfactory. This is true because either the adjustments were difiicult to make or if easily made the results were seldom pleasing aesthetically. Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge the prior art methods were confined to a procedure for raising or lowering the waistline only, none made any provision whatsoever for varying the waist size of the dress.

It is therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide a childs dress which obviates the disadvantages of the prior art dresses. 'It is another object of my invention to provide a one piece dress whereby the waistline or the waist size can be readily varied. It is another object of this invention to provide a one piece dress whereby the waistline can be raised or lowered using a minimum of equipment and is a simple operation. Another object of my invention is to provide a one piece dress whereby the waist size may be varied easily and with a mimimurn of equipment. These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claim, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a one piece dress embodying the features of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view partly in perspective taken along the plane and in the direction substantially indicated by the line and arrows at 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 illustrating how the waistband is folded to provide means for varying the waist size of the garment;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view of FIGURE 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, with parts broken away, and showing the waistline lowered, after removing the stitching at the top of the waistband of FIGURE 2 and restitching as indicated in this figure; and,

FIGURE 5 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 4 showing the normal position of the stitching at the top of the waistband and the bottom of the blouse as the dress is offered for sale by the retailer.

Referring to the drawing in detail a blouse 3 of conventional form is provided at its lower end with a depending extension 3a which encircles the waist of the wearer when the blouse is being worn. In the trade this is known as the free hanging type. As used herein and in the appended claim the term blouse means a blouse of a dress. The blouse is provided with darts 6 which provide means for increasing the size of the blouse when required. If desired the darts 6 may be replaced by means of tucks or similar folds to provide for adjustment of the waist size. Since tucks or similar folds are well known to those skilled in the art, they will not be discussed further. An inverted U-shaped waistband 5 is secured over and around the skirt 4 by stitches 9 and 10 after which the waistband is secured to the blouse extension by means of the removable stitches 8. The stitches 9 are known in the art as a finishing stitch. These stitches can be either zig zag or felling stitches. In addition to securing the waistband both front and back to the skirt also hold the folds 15 within the waistband by stitch It), which may be a single or multiple stitch. It will thus be seen that the gathers or pleats are held intact by means of the waistband and will remain so even if the stitches 8 are all removed. Furthermore the removal of a portion of stitching 9 allowing the unfolding of the fold 15 permitting an increase in the waist size of the waistband will not loosen the gathers or pleats. In passing it should be noted that the waistband is preferably made as small in width as possible, just wide enough to hold the gathers or pleats securely in place. Belt loops 16 are of a size that will permit the removable belt 7 to pass freely through without undue free play. In other words the loops are not those known as the floating type. The belt is, of course, Wider and completely covers the waistband. One end of the belt loop is attached to the skirt on the right side thereof at a point just below the lower edge of the waistband. The other or upper end of the belt loop may be secured by attaching it to the Wrong side of the waistband. By wrong side I mean that side which contacts the blouse extension. If desired this upper end of the belt loop may be secured by merely inserting it between the waistband and blouse extension before stitching. As illustrated in FIGURE 5, the waistband is secured to the extension 3a at a selected height above the bottom of the extension So so that the dress when initial ly sold, will fit the child. As the child grows and increases in height and her waistline drops, the stitches 8 are pulled out and the waistline and skirt dropped, as shown in FIGURE 4. If the waist size also has increased at the same time the waist size of the waistband may be increased by eliminating one of the telescopic folds IS in the waistband as illustrated in FIGURE 3 by removing a portion of stitching 9 after removing a portion of stitching 8. Various types of folds may be substituted for the telescopic fold 15 as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, however, I prefer this method of folding as it preseats less bulk than the other types. While for simplicity only one fold in the waistband is illustrated,

3 at least two folds are provided, one on the left side and the other on the right side of the dress. When the waistband is varied in size the right and left hand folds are adjusted an equal amount. It will thus be seen that equal adjustment both front and back is provided in the dress.

An alternative but a less preferred method whereby the waist size may be varied is accomplished by an elastic in the waistband. I do not prefer this method for two reasons. Firstly an elastic deteriorates and thus loses its elasticity. Secondly when an elastic waistband is used the dress does not fit as well as does a dress which is fitted with a conventional waistband of the correct size.

While the foregoing description particularly that regarding the method of making the alterations may sound complicated, the actual procedure in making those alterations is very simple. Only a minimum of equipment consist ing of small scissors or knife, thread, needles, and a thimble are needed to perform this task. Furthermore only the simplest type of stitching is required for reattaching the waistband to the blouse after the former has been moved and/or increased in size. Obviously if the restitching is a crude job no harm is done because it will be completely concealed by the belt.

While I have described a dress which is particularly applicable for girls between the ages of 1 to 12 years old, my invention is not so limited. Dresses constructed in accordance to my invention are also adaptable for use by older girls and women. In the latter case the retailer can easily make the necessary alterations to the dress so as to insure a perfect fit. Styles may change making it desirable to either raise or lower the waistline which can be easily accomplished in a dress constructed according to my invention. Other advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A dress comprising: a skirt, a telescopic inverted U- shaped waistband secured over and around the upper edge of said skirt with means to retain the telescopic portion in position, a blouse of a length to extend below the waistline over the upper portion of the hips, said blouse having its lower portion provided with folds symetrically arranged with respect to the center line of said blouse, and means for securing the waistband of said skirt to the waistline of the blouse and holding said folds in adjustable elevation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 592,149 Listman Oct. 19, 1897 1,294,037 Bradley Feb. 11, 1919 2,331,079 Pearl Oct. 5, 1943 2,803,830 Campbell Aug. 27, 1957 

